Robbie in and around Tacloban

STO NINO SHRINE AND HERITAGE MUSEUM TACLOBAN CITY I drive past this building which is actually a mansion at least twice a week. I have read about the history and my last visit to this museum was just before Typhoon Yolanda. Friends I know who have made the visit in recent times say it appears a bit run down but the mansion is still very impressive ENTRANCE                              SIDE VIEW This building is one of the mansions of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. The mansion was built for Imelda Marcos, the president’s wife during his time in power. If you don’t know Imelda Marcos is a native of Tacloban   It was erected in the late 70s. I have read this is one of 29 residences that were built across the Philippines during this time. The building has an area of 21,500 square feet so it is one mighty quest house or residence. We are talking about 21 bedrooms. I also took a photograph giving a side angle of the building to give you an idea of the she

INTRODUCTION When you drive along the Maharlika Highway from Tacloban to Dulag you will pass through towns and small barangays. Inland from the sea there are many of these small barangays (villages) that most foreigners will never see. If you have met or engaged to a Filipina there may come a time where you will travel to the family home. The family maybe be farmers or have some type of business but the family may also be poor. I have foreign friends married to Filipinas who choose not to visit the family home. That is a personal chose and should be respected whatever the reason.   I have been living in this barangay (village) for many years. I am married and have a young daughter. My wife’s family have friends some of which are poor but I prefer to use the term disadvantaged.      I visited one family, actually there are 3 families all directly related living on this section of land (12 people in total). I did not take pictures of them as all people are entitled to their priva

                   CAMP KAWAYAN RESORT IN BARANGUY BALORINAY IN THE BURAUEN AREA    ENTRANCE TO RESORT There is another resort but it may be too far for some from Tacoban. The aim is to let readers know what is available. If you are visiting family or just site seeing around the Burauen area then you may have the opportunity to spend a few hours here, relax and cool off in the nice swimming pool   The resort name is Camp Kawayan in Barangay Balorinay Burauen Leyte. The resort is very well laid out with a large swimming pool with water slides. In addition they have a shallow children’s swimming pool. MAIN SWIMMING POOL The reason I sometimes visit this resort is the Dulag barangay I live in is inland from the sea in land from the sea and there is a short cut via dirt roads to get on to the main highway just before town of Julita. If someone was making a day trip to visit say Hill 120 in the Dulag area then it is

SHOPPING LOCATIONS AND INFORMATION WILL BE UPDATED ON A ON GOING BASIS SHOPPING ROBINSONS MALL (4KM FROM DOWN TOWN TACLOBAN) A nice place to go shopping with everything you would need under one roof. A very good Supermarket, Department and Specialty Stores and many good restaurants and other places to eat. An extension to the mall has recently been opened. TIP For foreigners wanting to purchase imported meat such as lamb and steak there is a freezer just across from the fresh meat section in the main supermarket. The selection varies from time to time. Inside Robinsons Place OPENING HOURS 10am to 9pm 7 days Link to location map SM SAVEMORE MARKET (DOWN TOWN TACLOBAN) Opening hours 8am to Midnight 7 days   Link to location map GAISANO MALL (DOWN TOWN TACLOBAN) Link to location map FISH MARKETS TACLOBAN FISHING PORT As well as this area you will see quite a number of fish markets at different barangays around th

Storm Surges from Typhoons in the Philippines Introduction A storm surge a coastal flood associated with typhoons. There are different things that effect the severity of the storm surge. These can include the shallowness and the orientation of the body of water to the storm path. There is more science involved but a typhoon with strong winds simply pushes the water to the shore and causes flooding. Large waves are formed by the strong winds. As these waves break, the water moving towards a beach may exceed twice the wave height before the wave actually breaks. As these waves break, the water particles moving toward the shore have considerable momentum and may run up a sloping beach to an elevation above the mean water line which may exceed twice the wave height before breaking. Typhoon Yolanda (International name Haiyan) was one of the largest storms to make land fall in history. The storm surge in the Tacloban area was huge. The size of the storm surge was not anticipa

What is the rate of pay for the Mayweather McGregor Fight? Money earnt –the mind boggles (Australian slang) It is anticipated Mayweather will earn in access of $100 M US. Let’s round off the 10 th round to 30 minutes. So Mayweather during this fight was earning approximately $3.4 M US every minute or $56,000 US / second.   For our Filipino readers that is 170,000,000 peso a minute or 2,800,000 peso every second. This is what the public were willing to pay and now this event is part of history. It is hard to believe but if the world wide public wants a sporting event and now with pay per view these large amounts of money are possible. What will be the next event in sports to generate this amount of money is unknown but it will happen? Connor McGregor Mayweather Fight-from our Barangay outside Tacloban One could say I was tossing the coin to see whether I would pay the sum of 950 peso ($19US) to see this fight live. As mentioned in previous blogs I have no hesitation wi

Introduction In the Philippines if you are married and family are close by then when there is an event like a birthday or other celebration then they will have a party. Being a foreigner the thought is he must be rich but this is not the case A family member is having a birthday and relatives are aware. Now in Australia a normal birthday as I can remember when I was young is a simple party at home with direct family (except for your 21 st ,(a .big event). Most families in the Philippines are large. So there will be many relatives. It is virtually a snow ball effect. In this instance we are looking at 60 people in total which in western society would be a reasonably big party for a working class person. Filipinos love to eat and I don’t think you will ever get an argument in that regard. The idea and information is to put on a party at a reasonable cost and still keep everyone happy Where are we going to have the party? I go to a small Philippine beach style resort where